I am but I don't tweet and I don't follow anyone. I just read everyone elses!

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

And Matt Rolin, a four star OLB that was committed to USCeast had their team Dr. perform his ACL surgery recently and then flipped to UF today (which is pretty damn dickish), which may very possibly mean they get off the Trey Johnson chase (and Trey's coach said this week after Oregon offered he was down to OSU and UF).

Govbarney wrote:Vrabel may just be worth his weight as a recruiter. He was assigned as the lead guy on both Conley & Munger.

He has been very effective. I have mixed feelings about guys like Munger because if they do well it usually means some highly ranked guy busted. That said, they have seen Munger enough times live that you have to believe the staff knows what they are doing with him. I have a lot more confidence in this staff than I did in the last one on players like this.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

So, Fickel has been down to see Trey Johnson every week since his OV and the visits are going very well. Now, his dad has told him to reschedule to UF OV until January 11th to focus on finals (it was supposed to be this weekend). Getting Trey to sign (he would be the heir apparent to Shazier at the Will) before that UF OV becomes more and more feasible.

Trey Johnson just set his announcment date for January 4th at the Under Armor All-Star game. That means he will be announcing after only taking an official to OSU and UF moved on and signed another LB yesterday.

Looks like this one is done.

Mitchell is announcing the next day at the Army game and cancelled his Texas A&M official this weekend so he also looks to be a lock to the Buckeye's.

The last piece of the LB puzzle is the Juco Tommy Sanders that is visiting SC this weekend and received his Buckeye offer last week after an official. Supposedly he is the third piece and was a huge Buckeye lean pre this SC visit.

And Meyer went to Vonn Bell's state title game in Georgia last night, made sure Vonn saw him standing in the tunnel before the game, spent the game with Vonn's parents (Meyer also brought his daughter and Withers) and then met with Von after the game. Supposedly (multiple people with OSU connections have reported this, but no one from Bell's side yet) he set an official visit to OSU for January 11th (the next big visit weekend). This comes after Vonn's coach had said multiple times he wasn't going to take any OV's before announcing. Looks like Meyer did huge work to overtake Saban and his three visits he got out of Vonn this season.

Meyer has just crushed these state title weekends, using the Ohio weekend to grab Conley from UM and now spending all this time in GA to chase Vonn Bell and three top 2014 targets (the only QB they have offered thus far and a Clemson commit amongst them). Meyer was also out in Cali making visits this week.

The top WR in the country (per Rivals), Laquan Treadwell, was a huge Michigan lean for about eight months and things have gotten rocky over the last few. Today he officially eliminated UM (final three of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Ole Miss), continuing Hoke's trend of being unable to close with playmakers.

The only big recruits left on their board are five star RB Green (would be a Buckeye if we didn't have three big RBs already on the roster so we stopped recruiting him) and McQuay, a stud safety out of UF. The only real shot to have to close with a stud playmaker is probably Green.

Rivals only has 26 5 stars, so it's really not that surprising. Cam Burrows was a five star and dropped (all the way down to #31) after a bad performance at the Rivals Challenge this summer. Jalin would be a five star if he hadn't play QB in HS. There is legit uncertainty surrounding his ability to play WR at the next level. Not enough uncertainty to keep him from being ranked #42 in the nation, but enough to keep him out of sure fire five star holy grail land.

Truthfully the Buckeyes have no five stars at all right now. Eli Woodard sits at #28 in the country, Mike Mitchell at #30, Cam at #31 and Bosa at #51. Bosa was thought to be a potential five star but spending half the season concussed killed that.

Basically, if Mitchell or Woodard don't make the jump to five star during the Army game (yes, I am considering Mitchell in this class) Meyer may close his first class since he went to UF without a Rivals five star. Not that it matters when you still have 4 of the top 50 in the country locked up.

As to Ohio this year, it was actually the strongest year in a long while in terms of depth. A lot of four stars and a lot of quality players going elsewhere (this is per the scouts, not me). Don't get used to it though, because next year is going to blow.

e0y2e3 wrote:Rivals only has 26 5 stars, so it's really not that surprising. Cam Burrows was a five star and dropped (all the way down to #31) after a bad performance at the Rivals Challenge this summer. Jalin would be a five star if he hadn't play QB in HS. There is legit uncertainty surrounding his ability to play WR at the next level. Not enough uncertainty to keep him from being ranked #42 in the nation, but enough to keep him out of sure fire five star holy grail land.

Truthfully the Buckeyes have no five stars at all right now. Eli Woodard sits at #28 in the country, Mike Mitchell at #30, Cam at #31 and Bosa at #51. Bosa was thought to be a potential five star but spending half the season concussed killed that.

Basically, if Mitchell or Woodard don't make the jump to five star during the Army game (yes, I am considering Mitchell in this class) Meyer may close his first class since he went to UF without a Rivals five star. Not that it matters when you still have 4 of the top 50 in the country locked up.

As to Ohio this year, it was actually the strongest year in a long while in terms of depth. A lot of four stars and a lot of quality players going elsewhere (this is per the scouts, not me). Don't get used to it though, because next year is going to blow.

OSU's 5* less class is pretty stellar. I like it alot, particularly for what it does to positions of need. I think in the end we will be saying that either zeke or Jalin is underrated at 4*. I think both of those guys are going to be electric next year.

Sprinkle may be the steal of the class. I really like that kid alot.

As for next year's OH class, I will reserve judgement until next year's camp season. There are some pretty good players in OH, and we will see if any of them look great this summer. 2015 looks like it is going to be sick BTW. There are some guys who had very impressive sophomore years.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

If EZ-E played better competition and was on anyone's radar before the year he would have been a potential five star. As it is he flew up the rankings to get to #77 overall. As for Jalin, I don't know that I would ever call a top 50 kid undervalued.

IMO, the two most undervalued OSU related guys on Rivals are Quick (who even Givler has called the best WR in the country) and Bell, both are top 75 talents are their rankings don't reflect it.

But as you'll notice if you compare Givler's Ohio rankings to the national rankings, there are always variances in this stuff. Givler watches as much Ohio HS football as anyone and since Quick plays all the Cinci teams he got to see him as much as anyone in the country. I'll take the rankings and opinions of a guy fully focused on Ohio over the national rankings just about anytime.

As to actual news, Tommy Sanders, the JUCO LB shockingly chose Texas A&M. Which, with A&M being in second for Mitchell, already having like 6 LBs committed and 34 total commits makes on think that A&M may not feel very good about their chances with Mitchell. This isn't like OSU where you make room for a fourth LB, this is a team who has 34 commits already taking yet another LB.

So how about Bret Bielema's change of heart the second he hits SEC country? After complaining about the tactics of Urban Meyer stealing away commitments when the latter arrived in the Big Ten, Bielema is getting the hang of things at Arkansas very quickly. Bielema and his staff have been very aggressive going after players committed to other schools, mainly Altee Tenpenny, who is committed to Alabama but will visit the Hawgs in January. Tenpenny will obviously be intrigued with Bielema's run-first offense and it is a crowded backfield in this class at running back in Tuscaloosa. Tyren Jones and Derrick Henry are already on board, but Tenpenny has been solid for the most part throughout the process. Arkansas is also after Knoxville (Tenn.) Christian Academy of Knoxville teammates Brett Kendrick and Josh Smith, who are both committed to Tennessee. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

OSU 2013 cornerback commit Eli Woodard has changed his name to Eli Apple, a tribute to the man who has raised him from infancy.

Eli released this statement a couple of days ago: "A wise man once stated, 'Fatherhood is not biology. Fatherhood is responsibility.' From the time I was two years old my dad, Timothy Apple, has been my father. He's nurtured, provided, and protected our family. I am the man I am today because of his tireless love, and commitment to our family. So it is with great pride and honor to carry his last name. I am truly blessed to be Eli Apple. Go Bucks!"

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Also word around Scout is that both Trey Johnson and Mike Mitchell are in....Mitchell will announce for the Buckeyes at the Army All-American Game on January 5.

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Here's a list of OSU commits and a few other prospects that will be playing in the various all-star games in a couple weeks:

He became aTm's 35th commit this year, seriously. I guess the SEC is really cracking down on that oversigning thing.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

for what it is worth, Texas A&M is also heavily recruiting former FSU commit (and current Buckeye target) Tony Stevens and buckeye lean Mike Mitchell. How many are they trying to land in this class, seriously, 40? How many of these verbal commitments is TAMU actually going to honor? Pretty disgusting if you ask me.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

OK, I did some research and apparently aTm only had 77 players on scholarship this year, and they are losing 17 seniors and expect 3 to go pro early, so that means that they really have 57 committed scholarships for next year leaving 28 spots. Additionally, you expect that 3-5 of the 35 will not qualify and there will be 2-3 guys that wash over the offseason due to off the field stuff, that means that they should have 54-55 on scholly, leaving room for 30-31 and if the 3-5 dont qualify a class of 34-35 seems realistic and feasible.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

FWIW: the Rivals staff believes that the JUCO LB didn't have a committable offer to A&M until A&M accepted that Mike Mitchell was going to OSU next week and made his offer committable. Very similar to UF taking a fourth LB after they realized Trey Johnson is going to OSU.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

There is a play at the 4:25 mark that seriously reminds me of a Reggie White play. He just blows up a double team in a way that looked like Reggie. Bosa damn near made the tackle by shoving the OG into the ball carrier. Very impressive film against high level competition. He looks like a legit player for next year's team even with a deep DL.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

Lots of rumors from AAA game that things are trending tOSU's way for Quick, who will be announcing at the game. I have guarded optimism. Still haven't heard anything about Shelton Gibson, sounds like he may end up going to prep school/JUCO with Bobby Foster.

Mitchell is a lock at this point. I have Johnson penciled in as a lock as well.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

BTW: there has been a lot of smoke in Louisville and from people close to Trinity that James Quick has favored OSU a ton since the UM visit but that he was terrified of removing UL from his top spot because he knew it would have cost him the Kentucky Mr. Football award.

I've seen this theory posited all over the internet and all from people claiming to be from Louisville/close to Trinity.

e0y2e3 wrote:BTW: there has been a lot of smoke in Louisville and from people close to Trinity that James Quick has favored OSU a ton since the UM visit but that he was terrified of removing UL from his top spot because he knew it would have cost him the Kentucky Mr. Football award.

I've seen this theory posited all over the internet and all from people claiming to be from Louisville/close to Trinity.

Quick is a kid that does not seem so enamoured with the recruiting process that he would lie about tOSU having a slight lead to build drama like some of the other kids do, so I tend to believe he ends up at tOSU.

As for the Bell rumor, that would be fantastic. I will continue to call Bell to 'Bama with the hope that I am pleasantly surprised instead of completely disappointed. Thanks for giving me hope Lee, I had pretty much given up on Bell.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

e0y2e3 wrote:It would be a top three (with an Outside shot at #1) finish in the nation on Rivals.

Don't forget, Rivals only considers a teams top 20 prospects in their team rankings. Only having 19 right now, having a two star punter and a few other low ranked guys is killing OSU right now.

Regardless this class will end up top five, but with those four, Gibson and Worley it could end up #1/#2.

Granted, as we've seen, Tressel's highest rated classes tended to yield the lowest on the field results, so hopefully that trend doesn't continue under Meyer.

So you mean the bottom half of aTm's recruits (say #'s 21-35) are not going to help their rankings! Actually, Rivals method makes a lot of sense as it doesn't add a lot of juice to rankings due to just having huge classes.

Tressel's 08 class was supposed to be one for the ages, but they failed miserably. Honestly, a huge part of that was the non development of Brewster, Shugarts and Adams. Can you imagine what Warriner would have done with those recruits? Those are exactly the guys that Meyer and Warriner covet on the OL. Warriner took a bunch of poorly coached, virtually nobodies (from a recruiting stand point) and made the best OL in the B1G. The only starter on the OL that was not learning a new position at the college level was Andrew Norwell. Linsley (C) was a guard, Mewhort (LT) was a guard, Fragel (RT) was a TE and Marcus Hall (RG) was a hot mess. Hall turned into a devastating pulling guard. Warriner was Meyer's second best hire after Mickey Mariotti.

Tressel's 09 class was an even bigger bust (headlined by Berry and Bell). The wash rate in that class was pretty epic.

I couldn't care less about where this class is ranked when all is said and done. It is top 5 for sure. What I love more is the fit. I have written on this site for the last 5-6 years and during that time, I have always said recruiting is as much about fit as it is stars (if not more) and Meyer is getting the right fit with the stars (natural talent).

This team desperately needs athletic playmakers: Enter Ez-E, Jalin Marshall, Taivon Jacobs and James Quick (?). Any two of those guys would be great for what he needs.

This team desperately needs help at LB: Enter Trey Johnson (?) and Mike Mitchell (?). Both fantastic players.

To me it is more about the way he is filling needs than anything else. I remember when USC had the #1 class in the country about 5 years ago (Joe McKnight's class), and they were spurred to that ranking by a class that included 4-5 top shelf RB prospects. What the hell good does that do? You only need 1-2 per year, the other guys are just taking up roster spots. Meyer's class provides value at all his needs.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

Evan Lisle, the top ranked O-Lineman in Ohio has long been considered an elite prospect but questions regarding his weight and his ability to put enough on have been consistent (he played in the 240s his sophomore year). He showed up at the Army All-American game yesterday at 290, with pretty much zero fat on him.

Also EZ-E showed up looking to have put on a good bit of "good" weight as well. No weight in but Givler thinks he could be up into the 205-210 range now.

This is all per Givler, of course.

I can't say enough about what an improvement Rivals has made over the last year plus. Amazing to think they (re: the Buckeyes) had almost no good coverage just two years ago.

Nice looking group there. Apple, Lisle and Townsend drawing rave reviews. I am not going to go all "Tressel" here and say that the punt is the most important play in football, but I will say, having a punter than can flip the field would be a great asset, particularly after Buchanen's shaky career. Townsend has apparently been EXTREMELY impressive.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

Everybody says Baugh is tearing it up in practices (BTW, from the looks of it, no way is he at only 229 lbs). Greene says Conley may not be physically ready to contribute at CB as a freshman...but (like Roby) could benefit greatly from a redshirt year. They say it took just a day or two of adjustment for Marshall to start looking like one of the best 2 or 3 receivers in the game. Burrows looked good at CB after a slow start, and Bosa has been solid vs run and pass.

"I believe it is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting." H.L. Mencken